Loose-leaf binder



A. RUBIN.

LOOSE LEAF BINDER.

APPLICATION FILED FEB.26, 1919.

1, 350,422 Patented Aug. 24, 1920.

QWTW FT UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ADOLPH RUBIN, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR TO SIEBER PRODUCTS MFG. CO., OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, A CORPORATION OF MISSOURI.

LOOSE-LEAF BINDER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 4, 1920.

Application filed February 26, 1919. Serial No. 279,280.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, AnoLrH RUBIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Louis, Missouri, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Loose-Leaf Binders, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to loose leaf binders of the type in which the leaves are retained in position by tapes, bands or cords that are connected to a winding shaft which can be turned in one direction to tighten the tapes,

and thus cause the leaf clamping members of the binder to clamp the rear edge portions of the leaves securely together.

One object of my invention is to provide a loose leaf binder of the general type referred to which is so constructed that it is impossible to turn'the winding shaft rearwardly far enough to cause the tapes to be reversed and wound onto said shaft improperly.

Another object is to provide a loose leaf binder of the general type referred to, in which the winding shaft is locked securely by a mechanism comprising a rigid pawl, and a spring for normally holding said pawl in engagement with a ratchet wheel on the winding shaft,said locking mechanism being so constructed that the pawl will remain in engagement with the ratchet wheel on the winding shaft, even though the spring that exerts pressure on said pawl breaks or loses its resiliency.

Another object is to provide a loose leaf binder of the general type referred to, in which the winding shaft is normally locked by a mechanism that can be rendered inoperative only by means of a key that is used to turn the winding shaft, thereby producing a loose leaf binder in which the leaves cannot be removed or additional leaves inserted by an unauthorized person. 1

And still another object is to provide a loose leaf binder of the general type referred to, in which the winding shaft and the locking mechanism for the winding shaft are supported by and arranged inside of a back composed of a plurality of rigid sections hinged or pivotally connected together. Other objects and desirable features of my invention will be hereinafter pointed out.

Figure l of the drawin s is an end elevational view of a book equipped with a loose leaf binder constructed in accordance with my present invention.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional View, taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an end elevational view, showing the book open.

Figs. 4:, 5 and 6 are transverse sectional views, taken on the lines 'l'i, 5-5 and (5-6, respectively, of Fig. 2; and

Fig. '7 a detail sectional view, illustrating another way of mounting the leaf clamping members.

Referring to the drawings, which illustrate the preferred form of my invention, A and A designate two leaf clamping memhere between which the leaves B of the book are arranged, and C designates tapes or bands of flexiblematerial that pass through slots in said leaves, said tapes being connected at one end to the leaf clamping member A and extending from said leaf clamping member through the leaves and through slots in the leaf clamping member A to a winding shaft D that is adapted to be turned in a direction to draw the tapes G taut, and thus causethe leaf clamping members to clamp the rear edge portions of the leaves B together. The binder is provided with a back that is composed of a plurality of rigid sections or members hinged or pivotally connected together in such a manner that the back as an entirety has suflicient flexibility to permit the leaves to open out flat in substantially the same manner as a binder provided with a flexible back of fabric or other similar material. In the form of my invention herein illustrated the back of the binder is composed of two sections E and E that are pivotally connected together by a pintle '1 that passes through cooperating staggered bearings 2 .on the sections E and E of the back. The sections E and E of the back are preferably pro vided at their free edges with flanges 3 to which the covers F and F of the binder are hinged by pintles l that pass through cooperating bearings on the flanges 3 and on said covers.

Theleaf clamping members A and A can either be rigidly connected to the flanges 3 on the sections of the back, as shown in Fig. '7, or said leaf clamping members can be connected to the back in such a manner that they can move relatively to the back during the operation of opening the binder, and thus'assume a position in which they do not form bends in the leaves or prevent the leaves from lying flat. I prefer to pivotally mount the leaf clamping members A and A on the pintles l so that when the binder is opened the pressure which the leaves exert on the leaf clamping members causes said leaf clamping members to swing on their axes as shown inl ig. 3, and thus cause the portions of said leaf clamping members that bear against the rear edges of the leaves to exert upward pressure on the leaves.

The winding shaft D is rotatably mounted in fearings 7 arranged on the inner-side of the section E of the backQand a mechanism of novel construction is provit ed for locking said shaft so as to hold the "tapes (J taut. Said locking mechanism consists of a rigid pawl 8 that cooperates wlth a ratchet wheel 9 on the winding shaft D, and a spring 10 that normally exerts pressure on the pawl its opposite end with'a pin 14 that normally bears against a lug 15 on the hub of the pawl 8. The upward pressure that the flat leaf spring 10 exerts on the underside of the pawl 8 holds said pawl in engagement with the ratchet 9 and also causes the portion 15 on the hub of said pawl to bear against the pin 14 on the shaft 11, thereby holding the arm 12 at the outer end of said shaft in engagement with the key portion 13 on the winding shaft D. The winding shaft can be turned in a direction to draw the tapes 0 taut by positioning a key G on the key portion 18 of the windingv shaft and then turning said key in clockwise direction. It is impossible to rotate the winding shaft D in the opposite direction, orin the direction to re lease the tapes 0, without first tripping the pawl 8 or disengaging it from the ratchet wheel 9 on the'winding shaft. The release of the winding shaft is effected by forcing the key G inwardly on the key portion 13 of the'winding shaft, so as to cause a cam surface 16 on said key tobear against the arm 12 on the shaft 11, and thus turn said shaft in such a direction that the pin 14 thereon will engage the portion 15 on the hub of the pawl 8 and move saic. pawl downwardly out of engagement with the ratchet wheel 9.

inoperative in the manner above described the key G can be turned so as to rotate the winding shaft D in a direction to slacken the tapes (J. As soon'as the winding key d is removed from the winding shaft orwithdrawn sufficiently to disengage the cam portion 16 on said key from the arm 12 on the shaft 11, the spring 10 moves the pawl 8 into engagement with the ratchet wheel 9 and also moves the arm 12 on the shaft 11 into engagement with the key portion 13 on the winding shaft, so as to be in readiness to cooperate with the winding key when it is again arranged on the key portion of the winding shaft.

By constructing the locking:mechanism of the winding shaft in this manner I reduce to a minimum the liability of an unauthorized person removing the leaves of the binde or inserting additional leaves, as th only way that the locking mechanism for the winding shaft can be rendered inoperative is by inserting a special key on the key portion of the winding shaft and moving said key inwardly so as to engage the part 12 that effects the release of the ratchet wheel 9 from its cooperating locking pawl 8. The key if is preferably provided with a socl of triangular shape in cross section, and the key portion 13 of the winding shaft is correspondingly formed so as to eliminate the possibility of the winding shaft locking" mechanism being rendered inoperative witn an ordinary clock key or key provided with a square socket such as the clock keys new in universal use. hen the binder is locked the tapes 0 exert a pull on the winding shaft D in a direction tending to hold the teeth of the ratchet wheel 9 tightly against the end of the pawl 8. Consequently, even though the spring 10 should break or lose its resiliency, the winding shaft will not -be released. The only way that the winding shaft can be released is to exert pressure on the pawl 8 in a direction to force it away from the ratchet wheel 9, and this can only be ef fected by means of a' special key provided with a cam shaped portion 16 for engaging the arm 12 on the shaft 11.

In order to prevent the winding shaft i) from being rotated rearwardly to such an extent that the tapes C will be reversed and wound ontothewinding shaft improperly, l have provided my improved binder with a locking device that prevents the winding shaft from being rotated rearwardly or in anti-clockwise direction after said shaft has been turned rearwardly far enough to slacken the tapes C sufiiciently. to receive the maximum number of leaves for which the binder is designed. Said locking device consists of a nut 17 mounted on a screwthreaded portion 18 on the winding shaft D and provided with'a stem 19 arranged parallel to the winding shaft and passing through stationary guides 20, as shown in F 2. ll hen the winding shaft is rotated rearwardly the nut 17 will travel. in the direction indicated by the arrow in l 2 and come into engagement with one of the bearings 20 through which the stem 19 on the nut passes before the shaft is turned rearwardly enough to reverse the tapes, the engagement of said nut 17 with the bearing 20 causing the winding shaft to be locked securely and held against further rotation in anti-clockwise direction.

Having thus described invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

l. A loose leaf binder provided with flexible devices for retaining the leaves in po sition, a manually operable winding shaft that is adapted to be turned inone direction to tighten said flexible devices and in the opposite direction to slackon said devices, and means for preventing said winding shaft from being turned far enough in the opposite direction to reverse said devices and wind them onto said shaft improperly.

2. A loose leaf binder provided with flexible l af retaining devices, a manually opera ble winding shaft that is adapted to be turned in one direction to tighten said devices, and in the opposite direction to slack-en said devices, and means that permits said winding shaft to be turned in the opposite direction sufficiently to slacken the leaf retaining devices but not far enough to disarrange said devices.

3. A loose leaf binder provided with a -manually operable winding shaft, lea-f retaining devices actuated by said shaft, and a locking device for said shaft that does not interfere with the rotary movement of said she t in one direction but which causes said shaft to become locked after it has been rotated a certain distance in the opposite direction.

f. A loose leaf binder, comprising a manually operable winding shaft, leaf retaining devices actuated by said shaft, a locking device for said shaft mounted on a screwthreaded portion of said shaft, and means for causing said device to lock said shaft after it has been rotated a certain distance in one direction.

5. A loose leaf binder, comprising a manually operable winding shaft, leaf retaining devices actuated by said shaft, a locking device mounted on a screw-threaded portion of said shaft, means for preventing said device from rotating with said shaft, and a part with which said device cooperates to lock said shaft after said shaft has been ally operable winding shaft for tightening said tapes, and means for limiting the rotation of said shaft in the direction to release said tapes consisting of a device mounted on a s ev-J-threaded portion of said shaft, means preventing said device from rowith the shaft, and a stationary abutment against which saic .ovice st 'l-res after said shaft has i l. d been rotated a certain distance in the direction to slacken said tapes.

7. A loose leaf binder, comprising tapes for retainin the leaves in position, a manually operable shaft for actuating said tapes, loclci'n g device mounted on a screw-threaded portion of said shaft, a stem on said device arranged parallel to said shaft and passing through stationary bearings so as to prevent said locking device from turning with the shaft on which it is mounted, and a stationary abutment against which said device "lies after said shaft has been rotated a distance in one direction. loose leaf binder, comprising tapes or hands for retaining the leaves in position, a winding shaft for tightening said tapes, a rigid pawl that cooperates with a ratchet on said shaft to lock said shaft, a releasing device on which said pawl is pivotally mounted, and means for causing said pawl to be disengaged from said ratchet when said releasing device is moved in one direction.

9. A loose leaf binder, comprising tapes or lands for retaining the leaves in position, a w ling shaft for tighteningsaid tapes, a d pawl that cooperates with a ratch t on said shaft to lock said shaft, a releasing device on which said pawl is pivotally mounted, a portion on said releasing device being arranged in such a manner that it can be engaged by the key used to turn the winding shaft, and a spring that normally holds said pawl in engagement with said ratchet and the portion on said releasing device in position to cooperate with said winding key.

10. A loose leaf binder provided with tapes or hands for retaining the leaves in position, a winding shaft for said tapes provided with a key portion that is adapted to receive a removable key, a rigid pawl that cooperates with a ratchet on said shaft to lock the shaft, a releasing shaft on which said pawl is pivotally mounted and pro vided with an arm that is normally positioned adjacent the key portion on the winding shaft, means on said releasing shaft that engages said pawl and trips it when said releasing shaft is turned in one direc tion by the engagement of the key with the arm on said releasing shaft, and a spring for restgring said releasing shaft to its normal position and for moving said pawl into engagement with said ratchet.

11. A loose leaf binder, comprising tapes or bands for retaining the leaves in position,

a Windingshaft for tightening said tapes, a locking mechanism for said winding shaft, and a removable key that is adapted to be arranged in operative position on said Winding shaft and then moved longitudinally of said shaft to release said locking mechanism and thereafter retracted when it is desired to turn said shaft, said docking mechanism being so constructed that it can not be rendered inoperative when said key is not in operative position on the shaft.

12. A loose leaf binder provided with a back composed of a plurality of rigid sections hinged or pivotally connected together, leaf clamping members'carried by said back, tapes or bands fo r causing said leaf clamping members to securely clamp the leaves together, and'a winding shaft and locking mechanism for said shaft arranged inside of and supported by said back.

' 13. A loose leaf binder provided with a back composed of a plurality of rigid sections hinged or pivotally connected together, pivotally mounted leaf clamping members carried by said back, tapes or bands for causing the leaf-clamping member far enough to reverse the tapes or cause them to be arranged improperly on said shaft, a rigid pawl that cooperates with a ratchet on said winding shaft, a releasing device for said pawl provided with an arm that is normally positioned in proximity to .a key portion on said winding shaft, and

a removable winding key provided with means that engages said-arm to release said pawl when said winding key is positioned on the winding shaft. 7

16. A loose leaf binder, comprising tapes or bands for retaining the leaves in position,

a winding shaft adapted to be turned in one direction to tighten said tapes, a locking device mounted on a screw-threaded portion of said shaft for limiting the movement of said shaft in the direction to slacken said tapes, means for preventing said locking device from rotating with said shaft, a rigid pawl that cooperates with a ratchet on said winding shaft, a releasing device on which said pawl is pivotally' mounted, a spring that normally holds said pawl in engagement with said ratchet, and means for dis engaging said pawl from said ratchet when said releasing device is moved in one direction,said releasing device comprising a part that normally lies in proximity to a key portion on said winding shaft.

ADOLPH RUBIN. 

